Accepted a lot of questions from Marie, USA. Three dozens, maybe. All of them about Yakutsk and its dwellers’ way of life in the winter. Further answers to her questions.

1. Let’s start with illness, since you just had a sore throat. Does being in the extreme cold cause illness, especially respiratory illness? Does being indoors a lot spread illness? For example, are there outbreaks of flu when everybody gets sick?

Right, in winter we must be very careful, wear warm clothes on every occasion, even if we go outside just for 5-10 minutes. Sometimes we ignore precausions saying ‘Nothing will happen to us, if to spend just a few minutes outside without hat or scarf, or smoke just one cigarette,’ and as result we get all kinds of respiratory illness. Flu outbreaks usually appear with warm spell. When temperature rises from -40C to -20C. We may catch flu in public transports, stores, homes, work places. When flu outbreak is registered in the city, kids may have school off and recommended to not visit public places and stay home.

2. What are indoor temperatures like when it is -50 degrees or so outside? Do people keep their homes on the cool side or very warm? What is the source of heat for homes?

Indoor temperatures depend on building’s heating system. When it works well, it might be very hot inside. If the system wasn’t prepared good enough for heating season, it might be chilly. By the way, in fall we must insulate windows, i.e. put additional warm layers on windows bars, so cold couldn’t get inside through small fissures. We like when it is warm inside, actually. We get heat from city’s centralized heating system, some from boiler-houses.

3. How long does it take to get dressed to go outside in the extreme cold? What do people wear to protect themselves? Lots of layers? Furs? Is there a difference in how young people dress compared with older people (one of your flickr photos suggests this might be the case)?

I try not to hurry :) So getting dressed may take 8-10 minutes. I wear a shirt, thin sweater, Canada Goose Heli-Arctic Parka (I paid for it approx. 1000 USD, so I have to wear it this winter at least :) ), one thick wool pants, ordinary trousers, fur reindeer skin boots, leather hat with warm wool layer inside, warm leather gloves. Ladies prefer huge fur coats, fur hats, high reindeer skin boots. Young people like stylish parkas, actually they worry more about appearance than keeping themselves in warm.

4. How much time do people spend outdoors vs. indoors in winter? How much sunlight do you get? What is the length of daylight right now? Do you celebrate the winter solstice when the days start getting longer again?

In winter we spend most time inside. We try spend less time outside, only when we are on the way to work, home, shops, etc. Kids stay inside all the day round, or just a few seconds outside, enough for reaching a car and getting inside. No, we don’t celebrate the winter solstice. We have Winter Farewell Holiday on the last Sunday in March. That’s the Russian tradition. The funny thing is that the last Sunday of March is not the end of the Yakutian winter.

5. When does the spring thaw usually begin? What is it like? How long does it take to thaw and end flooding, etc.?

The spring thaw starts in the midth of April. Intensive melting takes place in the very end of April or the beginning of May. Spring flooding happens from the end of May till the midth of June. This is in the Central Yakutia. Flooding is usually devastating. High waters may wash away houses or even whole villages located on river banks. That’s why EMERCOM (the Russian emergency service) is always on alert in spring, and news agencies come with breaking news from Yakutia saying like “… families left without houses”. Here is the link to such news

6. Do many people have pets, like dogs? If so, how do they fare in winter?

Every fourth family in apartments buildings and every private house owner have dogs. Mainly for security reasons, in order to protect properties from thieves. Certainly, dogs need to go outside for pee, no other options for them :) , other pets may do it inside - in special boxes.

More answers at AskYakutia.com.